The Conversion Bureau - The Return of the King
Heartbreak Hotel by Dan's Comments
Disclaimer: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc.
Godzilla is the property of Toho Company Ltd.
Offloading the people was a chore. The iceberg boat was a lot more massive than anything else on Equestrian, even me. So getting it close was the best I could do, and then I cut a 'raft' loose to ferry people across. Having Godzilla act as a tugboat had the little ones in stitches. The medics treated the wounded, and the seasick. How does anyone get seasick on a 300,000 ton 'boat' on a glass-smooth ocean I don't know, I thought.
I left the ponies to get acquainted and situated. I took the ice-tanic out of the shipping lanes and dragged it onshore to melt of its own accord. I noted several pegasi making high-altitude overflights. I briefly considered knocking them down, but decided against it. I wanted to keep the full range of my abilities secret for now. Hitting them now would reveal my maximum range and accuracy.
------------------------------
The summons to return to Canterlot had come by pegasus courier. Pinkie had decided to 'Spike' them there. The entire pile of them arriving like a letter in the middle of Celestia's court had the expected effect.
"Ouchie," Pinkiecord complained, "Applejack, my nose is caught in your leg."
"Sorry," Appleling said, disentangled herself and transformed back into Applejack. "I like being able to fly, but I really want to go back to myself."
"We can never go back," Rainbow moaned and curled up on the floor.
Appleling sighed as she looked at her. "The princess will fix it," she told her.
"We are lost, we can never go home," Rainbow said.
Twilight Breezy had fluttered around and pointed out the elephant in the room. "Where is everypony else?" She looked around the completely empty throne room.
Unicorn Spike and a love struck Rarity dragon headed out of the room. "Over here!" Spike called back to them.
The others charged to where Spike left Rarity, as he went to collect Twilight-Breezy. "Come on, you can do it Twilight!"
She growled at him as they rushed back to the door Rarity stood beside.
"You can't fight in here!" Luna shouted, "This is a war room!"
The group rushed in to find Luna physically between Celestia and Discord pressing her wings against the two growling combatants. While the Imperial General Staff hid in the corners. All three of them stopped as they looked at the newcomers.
Celestia and Discord finally found common ground. "AHHHHGUGH!" they shouted as they retreated to the far end of the room. Luna stood where she'd been, her mouth agape, staring at them. Until she looked at Fluttercorn, then her wings poofed.
Fluttercorn raised a hoof. "Um, hi."
"AHHHHHGUH!"
Appleling facehoofed.
"What happened to you?" Discord said as he appeared next to them, then looked over Pinkiecord and Fluttercorn, "Not that it isn't an improvement."
"Where are the Elements?" Celestia asked as she approached much more warily.
"Uh, they were still on the airships," Rarity-dragon said.
"And Godzilla took them," Unicorn Spike added.
"We could ask for them back," Fluttercorn offered, glanced at Luna's lascivious expression and hid behind Appleling.
"And let the fool know he possesses Equestria's trump card in his paws, never," Celestia said.
"Princess Celestia, what about us?" Twilight Breezy asked, "We can't really help you or serve as Bearers of the Elements like this."
"Unfortunately, you'll have to stay in the castle in isolation," Celestia told them, "We can't let the others know that the Elements are no longer available to us."
"Or let them see that the potion works on ponies?" Discord asked.
"The potion was a mix of failed experimental types," Celestia retorted sharply, "It should have had no effect on ponies."
"But it did," Discord said.
"Enough," Celestia said, "A team of commandos will be sent to recover the Elements, and the Bearers will be kept here for their own safety."
"But my farm!" Appleling protested, so distraught she lost her disguise.
Celestia shied back in disgust. "Is your farm more important than Equestria?" Celestia asked.
Appleling changed back into Applejack and bowed her head. "No ma'am."
"Then with that settled," Celestia said and turned back to the table at the center of the war room. "What of these other rumors of uprisings, Newfoals flocking to the coast?"
"Highness," Twilight Breezy said, "Princess Celestia, what about us? Changing us back?"
"Twilight, you failed your test, and lost the Elements of Harmony," Celestia said without taking her eyes off the table. "You have much to think about."
Twilight Breezy let Unicorn-Spike collect her with his tail, as guards collected the rest of them. Pinkiecord transformed into a breezy next to Twilight and hugged her devastated friend.
------------------------------
Pinkie looked at the glass of chocolate milk rain and set it aside with a frown. "This isn't as fun as I thought it would be." The rest of the group were lounging around the palatial room, although Spike and Twilight had locked themselves in a closet. Rarity dragon sat just outside the arc of the door, staring at it.
"Rarity, it cain't be that he's that FABULOUS!" Appleling said, "And Rainbow, either snap out of it or go ta sleep."
Rainbow Dash began softly snoring.
"That's jist weird," Appleling said and shook her head.
"That's very weird," Rarity-dragon said as she approached, "But you're wrong, he is scrumptiously fabulous!" She let off a Fluttershy-esque squeak at the end.
Fluttercorn, Appleling and Pinkiecord all stared at each other.
"Anyhow, what are we going ta do? Wait, fer the Princess' commandos ta get the Elements back?" Appleling asked.
"We could talk to him," Fluttercorn said, "Not tell him about the Elements, just ask for the airships back."
"How in tarnation is anypony gonna talk to a giant, fire-breathing lizard?" Appleling asked.
"I can," Fluttercorn said, "He's actually trying not to hurt any pony. He just wants the Newfoals to have a nice place to live." She looked at the stunned expressions around her. "Uh, he's not a lizard, he's a dragon." That seemed to satisfy all of them.
"Saaaaaay," Pinkiecord said, and transformed into a sneaking suit, then transformed into Pinkie Pie wearing a sneaking suit, "More practice. Why don't we go get them!?"
"Pinkie," Appleling began, then looked around at the shoreline they'd reappeared on, and the suit she'd found herself in. "Pinkie, this is a bad idea."
"Why?" Pinkiecord asked, "Rarity and Spike can talk to any guards. You and Fluttershy can sneak into the town and search for the Elements. I can search the airships, and we'll all be gone before anyone notices."
"How are we gonna do that?" Appleling asked.
"Silly," Pinkiecord giggled, "You go in as some other Apple. Fluttershy transforms into some random pony." She looked at Fluttercorn as Pinkie Pie, in Pinkie's trademark pose. Pinkiecord facepawed. "I need an adult."
Fluttercorn giggled. "I'm not sure I want to go back. I like to be able to fly, but I never felt my connection to the ground so strongly before."
"Yep, it is kinda nice," Appleling said, "Not sure how I feel about being a Changeling, but I guess that really means I can be any pony."
"Although, I don't like the looks a lot of ponies are giving me." Fluttercorn became Lyra and looked herself over. "This should work. Even if they realize I'm not a Newfoal, Lyra was always interested in humans."
"Whatever happened to her?" Pinkie asked.
Appleling considered. "I don't remember. I kinda remember asking, but I can't remember if I ever got an answer."
------------------------------
I thought of it as 'the king's walk', letting the people see me. A big part of me was revolted by the implications. But another part understood and accepted the pageantry some felt comfortable with. The need for something greater than oneself. I could understand it, without agreeing with it. The very world we inhabit shows where such thinking takes you. What the ponies make into 'better' shapes destroys any semblance of what was there before. And the ability to exist on its own anymore, I thought as I walked and let them cheer.
The Newfoals are just the latest example. The ponies destroyed the natural weather patterns, so they have to do the work themselves. The species called 'Breezies' cannot survive without pony interventions. Evidently the sun and the moon cannot move without pony action.
All that ponies have touched, they destroy. All in the name of 'preserving' and 'helping' it. This is the ultimate result of 'we must protect the children'. Where those best able to trumpet their weakness and the unfairness of those who have more, or do more with less, are the rulers. So it is here, the low-level bullying and 'pranks' that would get corrected in a healthy society are ignored here. And should you dare stand up for yourself, you are worse than the perpetrators. This is not a place Oscar Wilde, or Giger, or Stephan King would flourish. Nothing to shock the senses, nothing to make one think, nothing to make a pony uncomfortable. And therefore nothing to goad one into making progress. Without natural selection, without the effects of random chance and the pressure that Earth directed at all her children, the ponies too are dying out. Rumors and half-heard conversations reveal that the human race for all their warlike tendencies, have created billions. Yet, in a pony driven paradise, there are only tens of millions, and the numbers are dropping, I thought and looked at all the kids among the throng screaming 'Godzilla' and all the various songs written for the character.
It is clear to me, Celestia invaded Earth and ponified everyone who wouldn't simply die, because she would have been ruling a necropolis within a few more generations. When the ponies failed to replace themselves. Because to raise children, you must to some extent become an adult. Even If the parents do not, the police, the older generations or others must. But none of that exists here. So they avoid the decision by not having children.
Sort of it makes it clear why humanity had to be destroyed. Because humanity proved one thing the Celestia and those who support her could never accept. Magic is unnecessary and destiny is irrelevant. Both are childrens' fantasies. Adults, humans, can create without magic, needing only imagination and persuasion. If you can dream it, and convince a few others to help you build it, a human can create great things. Here, if you don't have magic, even just to make the ground flourish, you can do nothing. Here, if you don't have a destiny in accord with your dreams, you cannot succeed.
I can almost understand why they would have such an existential dread. A race at odds with all they've been taught is important, out doing them in every way they can measure. But I also realize that Celestia has already selected their replacements.
I saw around me, many children and their loving families. More than you would see in a similar-sized pony community by several times.
Celestia had grown tired of 'her little ponies" foibles, and decided to replace them. I wonder if the ponies who followed Celestia so faithfully, committing unimaginable crimes to keep her love, realize that they were ushering in their replacements. The Newfoals are the improved model. Incapable of feeling more than token outrage at their mistreatment. Yet they have proven even more faithless than the ponies. My presence here highlights that. I am here as a counter to Celestia. They intended I cut a bloody swath through the ponies to lay open Celestia on her throne. Yet even I refused my destiny, seeking victory another way. Even in my attacks on Celestia, I personify what ponies truly fear.
Speaking of fear, I thought as I neared the end of my 'walk' and approach the harbor. I thought the awe versus terror reaction would come in handy.
I scooped up the two ponies to paralyzed to act, and head off into the harbor.
4797343 AAAHHHHUGH! Twilight, you flunked your test.
4802508 Actually it's all Cadence's fault.
God, I love TCB deconstructions.
Do they not realize they're Newfoals now? Or did they just not know how brainwashed they really were?
Ooh, I love this.
This really is an amazing story. Godzilla's inner monologue in the latter half is a fantastic statement of the human condition. Now, if only he could vocalize it, heh.
Is this Celestia seriously presenting any task she delegates to Twilight as a "test"?
Were the mane 6 even emotionally and mentally stunted by the potion? They don't appear much different from before, though they had little screen time up until now. If anything, their change in condition has them making a stand for themselves instead of heeding Celestia's every word.
For any human all kinds of alarms would be going off right now. Appleling seems hardly concerned. Are we seeing the effect of the potion at work or is this AJ's / a pony's lack of concern for such things?
Dr Strangelove reference, very interesting
4807138>>4807596 Glad you're enjoying it.
4807451 Only Rainbow is standard issue pony. And you can see how she's reacting. Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are alicorn level critters or above. Twilight, Spike and Rarity are non-ponies, that they're pretty off kilter.
4807699 Godzilla, philosopher king. Godzilla, what is best in life?
4808357 Test: What better way to blow off Twilight's tough questions and convince her what happened is her fault?
The potion was a mix of failed experimental types, even Celestia doesn't really understand what happened. And as long as the Mane 6 follow orders, she isn't that interested.
Or AJ was 'ordered' not to be worried about it. Like when AJ ordered Rainbow to snap out of it or go to sleep, Rainbow fell asleep. Celestia really should have paid more attention to her most useful toys, they might be getting away from her.
4808395 And why not.
4808619
Wait, Spike is a unicorn now yet Dash is the only "normal" pony? Did the potion mix affect him differently and he is a non-standard pony or did part of his dragon nature preserve itself? Rarity sure is obsessed with his new look but that might be just Rarity, not something inherently different about Unicorn Spike.
You mean that any being of sufficient powerlevel can give an order to a regular pony and they will just comply? Geez, this Celestia was busy long before she stumbled over humanity. This goes far beyond keeping an entire species on the mental level of children.
Is Rainbow now more of a normal Earth pony or closer to a newfoal in nature?
Things I saw on a second reading:
4808619
I may not be Godzilla, but I believe (I wouldn't know) the best thing in life is so simple everybody looks it over. The best thing in a person's life, is life. Life is all around us, in the air, dirt, water... And yet we take life for granted until it is violently (or peacefully) taken away from us at a whim of either another person, animal, nature itself, or just plain natural causes. Only then do we get the thing that we've been missing our entire lives, and at that it's just for a second.
Unless you're a ghost, then you get it for eternity and miss life all the more.
Seeing a little of 'Atlas Shrugged' here, as in the 'Dog Eat Dog' ruling.
4808861
The way he was described was as a unicorn from mythology rather than MLP. He has cloven hooves, a lion-like tail, a beard similar to a goat, and (depending on the myth you go by) maybe teeth like a carnivore.
4808619 To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.
4809165
You're right. I forgot about that completely after Spike was only refered to as a unicorn.
I love It, keep them coming xD
4808861 4809165 Correct, Spike is a unicorn of human legend, not a MLP FIM Unicorn. And he is truly fabulous. the potion used was a mix of regular potion and a lot of experimental batches, that really shouldn't have been mixed together.
Appleling is a Changeling Queen, Fluttercorn is an alicorn, and Pinkiecord is a mature draconequus, they can give orders to a Newfoal and they will be obeyed the same way Celestia would be obeyed by Newfoals. Rainbow is a Newfoal Earth Pony. She's the only one who suffered the full effect of the ponyfication potion.
4808937>>4809178 To the exercise vital powers along lines of excellence in a life affording them scope.
4808952 One book I haven't read, people keep telling me I should because I talk like I wrote it.
4811198 Working on the next one.
4811505 Appleling, Fluttercorn, and Pinkiecord can give orders to New Foals, but I assume this doesn't make them immune to orders from Celestia?
4811505
Out of curiosity why doesn't Celestia order the Newfoals to stay? She doesn't care about their will; and if Godzilla is right about her, she doesn't really care about how the ponies will react either. Is it just a power thing then: "They dare defy me? They will pay!"?
4811736 See Appleling's reaction 'My Farm!' and Celestia's subsequent orders.
4812048 That was what Celestia had planned, but Godzilla came early. She has to do it face-to-face, she can't just send a memo or appear as a giant floating head. Her attitude is more like: 'This is for their own good, how dare they not be grateful!'
4808861 Second reading: Fixed. Thanks.
Do we have a fan of Dr. Strangelove here?
And thus I learn an important fact about Godzilla today: he has an awful taste in literature. What kind of Philistine mentions Oscar Wilde and Steven "I don't know how to stop writing, please send help" King in one sentence?
5423088 There's a difference between liking them, and being aware of them.
This is the ultimate result of 'we must protect the children'. Where those best able to trumpet their weakness and the unfairness of those who have more, or do more with less, are the rulers. So it is here, the low-level bullying and 'pranks' that would get corrected in a healthy society are ignored here. And should you dare stand up for yourself, you are worse than the perpetrators. This is not a place Oscar Wilde, or Giger, or Stephan King would flourish. Nothing to shock the senses, nothing to make one think, nothing to make a pony uncomfortable. And therefore nothing to goad one into making progress.
Maybe this is just me, but does anyone else think this paragraph reflects the society of today pretty accurately?
8622019
True enough to an extent at least. At least, in our society, we do eventually allow our children to grow up.
However, by being so gung-ho about 'protecting' them, there are many in the last generation or so that lack the skills to truly survive in the real world. Which just goes to prove the statement at the beginning of that specific paragraph all the more.